The 2007 Prague Quadrennial student exhibition area included representation from a wide variety of theatre programs from throughout the United States. Work is already underway for the exhibitions which will be part of the 2011 exhibition in the Czech Republic.

Photos/R. Finkelstein

Tom Burch
USITT/USA PQ 2011 Committee

The committee for the USITT/USA PQ 2011 Student Exhibit is already hard at work creating what it hopes will be a fascinating and challenging exhibit – and experience – for American students at the upcoming PQ.

The committee consists of Rachelle Beckerman (SUNY-Buffalo, Ohio University), Nick Nussrallah (Carnegie-Mellon), and Collin Ranney (SUNY-Buffalo, now a graduate student at University of Maryland), with Yu Shibagaki (California State-Fullerton) as alternate. Though aided and mentored by Tom Burch (Chicago-based scenic designer and lecturer at University of Chicago), in a new twist for PQ2011, the power rests with the students, who are taking the lead in designing, marketing, curating, and running the exhibit. The group has its own website and is on Facebook (Emerge Pq-usa).

The USITT/USA PQ 2011 Student Exhibit will focus on the process of creation and has added a new and interactive participatory element to the display. Part of the exhibit space will be a work area where American students will be given a short text and some basic materials from which to create a new design in a short period of time, all while viewers watch and walk through the exhibit. These new creations will then be added to the display allowing it to be an ever-evolving and differently-engaging entity.

The title for the exhibit is Emerge, with a dual context speaking directly to the evolution of ideas through the process of design and collaboration, as well as to the emergence of student designers from academia into the professional ranks.

The team is now actively seeking students from across the country to participate in both portions of the project including entries in all areas of design and all disciplines of performance, both theoretical and realized works. While professors/mentors are urged to encourage their students to submit work, it is the students’ responsibility to do so. Students can submit images/files of their work for consideration. Students may submit directly through our website, or through the main USITT/USA PQ11 site. The deadline for display-only consideration is December 1. The submission deadline for active participation is April 1, 2011. Those interested in the participatory part of the exhibit should plan to attend the Prague Quadrennial in June of 2011 before applying.

The team will curate the display portion of the exhibit over the Christmas holidays. The team will unveil the participatory elements during a trial run at the 2010 USITT Conference & Stage Expo in Kansas City. There will be a break-out session with students who have attended past PQs.

In 2003, 23 schools had students participate. In 2007, 31 schools were represented. The committee is working to make this PQ even bigger and further reaching in its involvement of students through their own initiative. Further information can be obtained at www.pqusastudent.com, and questions can be addressed at the website, or to tomburch@uchicago.edu.

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